Questions and Answers about Cintas Interviews

Employment Advice From Cintas’ Takiyah Cunningham

9 . Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult or disruptive person. It may be a client, manager, or coworker. How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome?

People skills are highly valued in a company. It is important to show how you can manage difficult personalities, especially if you are applying for a job that involves teamwork, or a lot of interactions with clients.

  • About YourselfLook back on your experience. Have you worked with a difficult or disruptive person? Remember a few such situations and how you diffused them and turned things around. What are your approaches to resolving conflicting situations at work?
  • About The Company
    • What have you found about the company and its culture?
    • What have you learned about how the employees value each other?
    • How do they treat their customers?
    • Do they have any specific standards and policies?
  • About The FitUsing what you found about the company, choose one of your examples that fits best with the company standards and share your story. If its a customer, how did you turn things around and made a customer happy? If its a coworker, how did you diffuse a tense or difficult situation?
  • Use the triple A of diffusing a difficult situation:

  • Acknowledge – what the other person is feeling,
  • Apologize – for the way the other person is feeling,
  • Admit – that there was an issue that you are working on to get it resolved.
  • If it is a customer, it would add that extra touch if you “Ask” for the customers contact information so you can update them of any progress on their issue.

    This question is asked 2.1x more frequently at Cintas than at other companies.

    7 . How would you handle a customer with difficult behavior?

    People skills are highly valued in every company, and even so much more so in a company that deals with difficult customers occasionally. It is important to show how you can manage difficult personalities.

  • About YourselfLook back on your experience. Have you worked with a difficult or disruptive person? Remember how you diffused the situation and how you turned things around.
    • Do you have certain principles, or methodology, to deal with difficult people?
    • Do you have strong people skills, are you good at conflict resolution?
    • Are you high on emotional intelligence? Can you give an example?
  • About The Company
    • What have you found about the company and its culture?
    • What have you learned about how the employees value each other?
    • How do they treat their customers?
    • Knowing their line of business or industry, what can be some examples of difficult customers?

    Do your research.

  • About The FitA question like this asked in an interview, may be an indication that difficult customers, or other difficult stakeholders, may indeed be something that you will probably encounter in this company, and it is important for the interviewer to know that you will be able to handle this challenge with good grace. If you can give an example of how you handled a difficult person in the past in a situation similar to what this company may require from you, this will strongly increase your chances of showing yourself as a good fit.
  • One methodology for diffusing a difficult situation is called “the triple A” approach:

  • Acknowledge – what the other person is feeling,
  • Apologize – for the way the other person is feeling,
  • Admit – that there was an issue that you are working on to get it resolved.
  • If it is a customer, it would add that extra touch if you added another “A” to your approach by Asking for the customers contact information so you can update them of any progress on their issue.

    This question is asked 17% less frequently at Cintas than at other companies.

    Take a quick quiz and check if you’re ready to answer this question at your next job interview:

    Pick the best answer:

    AIf the customer is rude and obnoxious, answer in kind and show him that he cannot push you around.

    BListen carefully to what the customer is saying to really understand their concerns then repeat back to them what you heard to be sure you have it right, before attempting to help them with the problem.

    CTell the customer that he should have known that the sale is final and there is nothing he can do to renegotiate the terms of the deal.

    3 . Tell me about your greatest professional accomplishment

    Of all your accomplishments (and I am sure you’ve had a great many of them!), you should choose the one most relevant to this job position.

  • About YourselfWrite down your Key Selling Points – your top 3-5 skills that make you a strong professional. Write down a list of your top 3-5 professional accomplishments that you are most proud of. No need for lengthy descriptions, just 1-2 words for each one to help you recall each situation. Make sure you have developed the story behind each accomplishment and have a strong command of the details of what happened so that you can tell the story clearly and distinctly. Along with each accomplishment, mark which of your Key Selling Points they showcase. How exactly?
  • About The CompanyBased on your research of the company, what are their current needs?
    • What are the major projects going on?
    • What are the expectations for the position you are applying for?
  • About The FitTry to imagine yourself being an employee of the company you are applying to, say, at your 6th month into the job.
    • Which of your Key Selling Points and accomplishments would be most relevant to the company?
    • What “have you accomplished at your new job?”

    Choose the most relevant accomplishment from your list and then practice telling your story.

  • Most enterprises are now going through major transformations, often called Digital Transformation.

    Do your research on what it means and what is often involved, to get a better idea of the current goals and environments in companies. But one thing that definitely characterizes this transformation is striving for agility.

    In particular, for startups (if you are applying to a startup or a small business), agility is their middle name, in order for them to survive among bigger sharks in the market.

    So, demonstrating qualities like agility and adaptability should generally be helpful and quite a safe choice in most circumstances today.

    This question is asked 2.3x more frequently at Cintas than at other companies.

    Take a quick quiz and check if you’re ready to answer this question at your next job interview:

    Why do interviewers ask this question?

    AThey want to know why you think the accomplishment you chose is your greatest, to give them an idea of what you think is important

    BThey want to hear a specific example of your work to see if your problem solving skills fit in with the issues and problems their company might be experiencing

    CThey want to know if you are a great multitasker who can get 10 different things done by the end of the day, no matter how long you have to stay at work to complete it all

    Now that you have read some of our recommendations, you may wonder: “Ok, so what’s next? I seem to understand these concepts quite well and they kind of make sense to me, but how do I make sure my answers are actually in accordance with these recommendations, and I will stand out as a strong candidate in my upcoming interview?”

    Good question. Assuming you are indeed qualified and fit for the position you are interviewing for, the best thing you can do is make sure the interviewer sees this fit.

    There are two ways how you can leverage Mr. Simon’s expertise to help you shine your best:

  • Go ahead and practice with the Mr. Simon app – it is a completely free, fun and helpful experience!
  • Request a mock interview with a real human career mentor. During the session we will help you identify your Key Selling Points to emphasize in the interview, and to present them in a way that strongly communicates your value to the company. The 1-hour session costs USD 79.99 and is supplemented by 2 weeks of support via email, free of additional charge.
  • To request the session, shoot us an email to [email protected] and attach your resume and job description to expedite the process.

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